Women's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Head Swimming & Diving Coach
- Email:
- brianthomas@gwu.edu
- Phone:
- 734-9726
Brian Thomas found immediate and sustained success in Foggy Bottom after being named George Washington men's and women's swimming and diving head coach on July 12, 2018. Thomas took over the Buff and Blue after two years leading the women's program at fellow Atlantic 10 member St. Bonaventure in which he helped the Bonnies rewrite their record book and climb the conference standings.
Since his arrival, Thomas has overseen the A-10’s premier swimming and diving program, leading the men’s team to four A-10 Championships and the women’s team to three A-10 Championships in just five years, including back-to-back championships for both teams in 2021-22 & 2022-23. In that period, Thomas won back-to-back Men’s and Women’s A-10 Coach of the Year awards for his effort in leading the A-10’s premier swimming and diving program.
In his tenure with the Buff and Blue, Thomas has helped produce two NCAA Qualifiers (Djurdje Matic in 2022 and Julia Knox in 2023), four A-10 Most Outstanding Performers (Moritz Fath in 2019 and 2020, Karol Mlynarczyk in 2021 and Marek Osina in 2022) and three A-10 Rookie of the Years (Karol Mlynarczyk in 2021, Connor Rodgers in 2022 and Phoebe Wright in 2023).
At the 2023 A-10 Championships, the Buff & Blue continued to blaze through the competition, breaking eight A-10 records, 10 A-10 meet records and 21 GW program records. GW stood on the podium 53 times during the meet and were fast enough for 27 NCAA B-Cuts. The men won nine individual A-10 Championships while the women took home eight, and Thomas was named the Men’s and Women’s A-10 Coach of the Year after the dominant week-long performance.
In 2022, Thomas was named the A-10 men’s and women’s coach of the year after leading the men’s and women’s teams to a dual A-10 Championship, sweeping the A-10 Championships for the first time in program history. Led by Erin McCarthy on the women’s team, and Djurdje Matic and Marek Osina on the men’s team, GW outscored second place by 351.5 points on the men’s side and 192.5 points. Thomas sent his first student-athlete to the NCAA Championships (Matic), while also producing the men’s A-10 Rookie of the Year (Connor Rodgers) and six A-10 First Team student-athletes.
During the 2021 season, the GW men won their fourth Atlantic 10 title in five seasons, boosted by the fantastic debut of Karol Mlynarczyk, who became the first student-athlete to sweep Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Rookie Performer honors at the meet since GW Hall of Famer David Zenk in 2006. Thomas was named Coach of the Year for the second time in three years after his squad piled up 21 medals, including 14 golds, while setting four conference and seven program records to cruise to a comfortable victory.
In 2020, the GW women claimed their first title, showcasing tremendous depth to complete its climb to the top of the team standings. The Buff and Blue claimed nine total medals, including a pair of golds, and were represented in every championship final throughout the week. The men landed runner-up with Fath repeating as Most Outstanding Performer after claiming seven medals (five gold) and Nachtwey was named Most Outstanding Diver again, as well.
In February 2019, Thomas was named A-10 Men's Swimming Coach of the Year after the team claimed its third straight A-10 title, piling up 22 medals, 14 of them gold, over four days in Geneva, Ohio, to pull away. The Buff and Blue set six A-10 records and 11 new program marks along the way. Moritz Fath was named the meet's Most Outstanding Performer after winning six gold medals, while Peter Nachtwey earned Diver of the Meet honors thanks to a gold on 3-meter and a silver on 1-meter.mThe women's squad had its best finish at the A-10 Championship by taking second behind Duquesne, improving its place in the team standings for the fourth straight season behind individual gold medalists Emily Zhang, Andrea Moussier and Meghan Burton. GW finished its season at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship, where the men placed fifth and the women 16th vs. a national field.
"I am thrilled to welcome Brian to GW," Director of Athletics and Recreation Tanya Vogel said. "Both of our programs are well-positioned for future success, creating a search filled with outstanding candidates. Brian rose to the top based on his work at St. Bonaventure where he established a healthy culture for the holistic development of each student-athlete. He presented a strong vision for sustainable growth for our men's and women's programs. With the rapid turnaround of the St. Bonaventure women's program, bolstered by the recruitment of the 2018 A-10 Conference Most Outstanding Performer, he has excelled as a head coach. Brian has coached multiple NCAA Division I qualifiers and All-Americans, and we are excited to watch him lead these programs to the next level.
Thomas orchestrated an impressive turnaround at St. Bonaventure, guiding the squad's rise to fifth place at the A-10 Championship in 2018 after it finished 10th the previous three seasons. The Bonnies were rated the No. 12 most-improved women's team in the nation by SwimSwam.
Boosted by the top recruiting class in the A-10, the St. Bonaventure women set 11 program records, including four relay marks, during the 2017-2018 campaign, paced by a freshman who was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the conference meet. They produced four NCAA B-cut times, 10 meet wins and a conference-leading nine A-10 weekly award winners.
The Bonnies also achieved in the classroom during Thomas' tenure, earning Scholar All-America Team recognition in all four semesters. In 2017-18, the program placed 19 student-athletes on the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll, and in the fall of 2016, the Bonnies ranked No. 15 nationally with a 3.57 team GPA.
Thomas was hired at St. Bonaventure in April 2016 after a year as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UNLV, where he coached an NCAA qualifier.
Before that, Thomas was on staff at Western Kentucky for five years, serving as associate head coach for the final two seasons. The Hilltoppers won a Sun Belt title on the women’s side in 2013 and back-to-back Conference USA crowns on the men’s side in 2014 and 2015.
At WKU, Thomas was in charge of a breaststroke group featuring two-time All-American Fabian Schwingenschogl, who has represented Germany at the Olympics and holds national records for the 100 breast in both SCM and LCM. He also worked with 2012 Olympic gold medalist Claire Donahue during his stint with the Hilltoppers.
While there, Thomas served on the Kentucky Swimming Board of Directors, the local governing body for USA Swimming, and was involved in a fellowship program with the American Swimming Coaches Association, where he worked on anti-hazing, anti-bullying policies and best practices.
"My wife Danielle and I are absolutely thrilled to join the GW community, and we owe a debt of gratitude to Tanya Vogel and Danya Ellman for this opportunity," Thomas said. "Back in March, we came to D.C. for the Atlantic 10 basketball tournament and happened to walk through campus on our way to the Lincoln Memorial. I was taken aback by the surroundings, and it was obvious that GW provides an experience for its students that can't be replicated anywhere else - I look forward to being a part of that."
A native of Duxbury, Massachusetts and an avid Boston sports fan, Thomas graduated from the University of Connecticut after a four-year career with the Huskies. He and his wife Danielle have two sons, Boomer and Chip.
